Constraints imposed by pollinator behaviour on the ecology and evolution of plant mating systems

• Published in: Journal of evolutionary biology Vol. 27; no. 7; pp. 1413 - 1430
• Main Authors: Devaux, C, Lepers, C, Porcher, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Blackwell Science 01.07.2014; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley
• Subjects: Animals; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; ecology; Ecology, environment; Evolution; floral traits; foraging; Inbreeding; inbreeding depression; Life Sciences; Magnoliophyta; Magnoliopsida - genetics; Magnoliopsida - physiology; mating systems; mutualistic networks; Plant ecology; Plant reproduction; plant‐pollinator interactions; plasticity; plastics; Pollination; pollinator foraging behaviour; pollinators; Populations and Evolution; Reproduction; Reproduction, Asexual; selfing; selfing rates; pollinator foraging behaviour; plasticity; plant-pollinator interactions; inbreeding depression; mutualistic networks; selfing rates; floral traits; Inbreeding depression; Pollinator foraging behaviour; 19 Plant-pollinator interactions; Plasticity; Mutualistic networks; Selfing rates; Floral traits
• ISSN: 1010-061X; 1420-9101
• DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12380

Most flowering plants rely on pollinators for their reproduction. Plant‐pollinator interactions, although mutualistic, involve an inherent conflict of interest between both partners and may constrain plant mating systems at multiple levels: the immediate ecological plant selfing rates, their distribution in and contribution to pollination networks, and their evolution. Here, we review experimental evidence that pollinator behaviour influences plant selfing rates in pairs of interacting species, and that plants can modify pollinator behaviour through plastic and evolutionary changes in floral traits. We also examine how theoretical studies include pollinators, implicitly or explicitly, to investigate the role of their foraging behaviour in plant mating system evolution. In doing so, we call for more evolutionary models combining ecological and genetic factors, and additional experimental data, particularly to describe pollinator foraging behaviour. Finally, we show that recent developments in ecological network theory help clarify the impact of community‐level interactions on plant selfing rates and their evolution and suggest new research avenues to expand the study of mating systems of animal‐pollinated plant species to the level of the plant‐pollinator networks.